Irving-based Nexstar Media Group Inc. is partly banking on a hotly contested 2020 presidential election — and the billions that'll be spent on political advertising — to capitalize on Monday's purchase of Tribune Media Co.'s 42 TV stations.

The deal, valued at $6.4 billion, makes Nexstar the nation's largest local TV station owner and expands its audience reach to 39 percent of all U.S. TV households. Nexstar will pay $46.50 a share — 15 percent above Tribune's Friday closing price — and take on the Chicago-based company's debt.

In discussing the deal with Wall Street analysts, Nexstar CEO Perry Sook and chief financial officer Tom Carter said they both saw growth potential in political advertising in two years when national, state and local offices are up for grabs. Carter described it as "an anticipated robust 2020 political process."

Political spending in the 2016 election cycle totaled $9.8 billion, with the bulk going to TV ads, according to estimates at the time by media tracking firm Borrell Associates. Nexstar expects to close the purchase by Sept. 1, well before the 2020 election cycle gets under way.

Tribune's stations give Nexstar 216 nationally, including 18 of the nation's top 25 markets and 37 of the top 50 markets. Nexstar and Tribune have overlapping ownership in 15 markets, where divestiture will likely be required to meet regulatory and antitrust laws.

Sook said he spoke with Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai on Monday morning to assure him Nexstar had a plan for divestiture. He also said he had already heard from four companies interested in buying what gets put up for sale.

Aside from the TV stations, the deal also includes entertainment cable network WGN America, a 31 percent stake in Food Network, a 5 percent ownership in the Chicago Cubs and investments in several digital media businesses.

This map from Nexstar's presentation to Wall Street analysts shows how its footprint would grow with the Tribune Media acquisition.

Sook praised Tribune for its "complete turnaround" of once-struggling WGN, but also acknowledged there are others interested in buying the cable network.

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"We're happy with the progress they have made, but if someone is willing to pay a significant premium we're happy to have that discussion as well," Sook said in response to an analyst's question. "But currently, we have no plans to immediately divest of it."

Sook estimated the required divestitures could bring in around $1 billion.

Nexstar has risen rapidly to the top of owners of local TV stations. It grew substantially in 2017 when it acquired 71 stations from Media General in a deal valued at $4.6 billion.

"Our growth has been rapid yet measured," Sook said, addressing whether the company can handle its debt. Since the Media General closing, he said, Nexstar had reduced its debt by $670 million. The Tribune deal is being financed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank.

Characterizing Nexstar as the TV industry's "leading consolidator," Sook said the deal with Tribune capped a year and half of discussions. It also followed Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc.'s failed takeover attempt of Tribune.

Bulking up will give Nexstar more leverage as it negotiates retransmission fees from pay-TV providers. Broadcasting companies also are pairing up in the hopes that their size will help ward off a threat from Netflix Inc. and other streaming services.

"One of the responses we've seen across the media landscape has been consolidation," said Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence. "Let's get bigger. Let's get scale. Let's respond to some of these technology media companies."

Nexstar said the purchase will mean an immediate $160 million boost to its operations through cost reductions and added retransmission revenue.

This marks the second major deal among broadcast-station owners in 2018. In June, Gray Television Inc. agreed to buy Raycom Media Inc. for $3.65 billion.

Paul O'Donnell, Business Editor. Paul directs the work of an award-winning staff covering business news in the nation's fourth largest metro region. He's been The News' business editor since 2015. Before that, he was editor-in-chief at the Dallas Business Journal and business editor at the Cleveland Plain Dealer.